This invention relates to storage of weapons and equipment for law enforcement, and more particularly, to storage of weapons and electronic equipment in police sports utility vehicles (SUVs).
In law enforcement, there has been a significant move from traditional sedans, the primary one being the Ford Crown Victoria sedan, to SUVs for patrol, emergency response and general emergency vehicle operations and applications. The standard SUV does not have a trunk as sedans do,
In police SUVs, many new needs and problems have arisen:                1. Securing items such as shotguns, rifles and less-lethal weapons in the back of the SUV.        2. Keeping weapons out of view or hidden from public view.        3. The visibility issue of weapons is a serious problem especially with campus police, large cities and states where the SUVs of police or county sheriffs are sometimes parked overnight in driveways at homes, on the street, parking lots, etc.        4. Allowing access to the other police equipment such as first aid kits and fire extinguishers, while keeping the weapons secure and out of sight.        5. Providing quick access to officers in emergency or time of need without the need to move other gear and equipment out of the way.        6. The need for a protected area to position and install electronics such as video systems, radios and sirens. These devices generally have complicated wiring and/or multiple wire harnesses. Accidently cutting, breaking or disconnecting a wire can cause the electronic equipment to malfunction. Forcing items such as a stolen bike into the rear of an SUV can knock exposed or unprotected wires loose causing a service call or disabling police equipment.        
Also, the equipment generally carried in the police vehicles has changed in recent years. It is common for police patrol vehicles to have high powered “patrol rifles” in addition to standard police “riot shotguns”. These patrol rifles are often valued above USD $2000 with the optics, lights, rifle and other accessories they are commonly outfitted with. Riot shotguns were commonly available for a couple of hundred dollars and thus posed much less of an incentive and enticement to steal them from police vehicles. Adding secondary locks and keeping the rifles out of sight reduces the potential theft situation.
While the rear section of the police SUVs is reasonably large, there is a continuing need for more equipment requiring more usable space. The limited space is compounded by some companies, such as Ford, requiring the spare tire remain in place as part of their dynamic crash performance. Additionally, the rear of passenger seat partitions and often hatch and side quarter window bars are used to protect the items behind the second seat from theft or officer injury in the event of a crash. The window and rear seat partitions often reduce visibility to the rear of the police vehicle.
Over the years various types of storage units have been made and suggested to store electronic equipment and rifles and other weapons in law enforcement vehicles, which cannot be readily seen by the public but yet are easily accessible for police and other law enforcement officials. The prior conventional storage units and facilities have met with varying degrees of success.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide an improved storage compartment for weapons and electronic equipment for police SUVs, which overcomes most, if not all of the preceding problems.